Catholic school parents will see changes in their child’s school calendar as the Diocese of Little Rock switches from counting days of instruction to hours.
The State of Arkansas requires students to attend at least 178 days or 1,068 hours of “on-site, in-person instruction.” The average school day is six hours or 30 hours a week.
According to the Pew Research Center in 2023, the national norm in the United States is 180 days. One state requires 160 days, while several states set their school calendars at 185 or 186 days.
With Catholic schools usually offering longer days, the school calendar will be at least 1,080 hours or 172 days for the 2024-2025 school year, said superintendent Theresa Hall
The Catholic Schools Office releases one school calendar in January for the coming school year that most schools follow, but schools are allowed to set their own calendar based on local needs with approval from the Catholic Schools Office. For example, cities with only a Catholic elementary school and no Catholic high school might coordinate their calendar with the local public schools.
“We wanted to include more than 1,068 hours. We took everybody’s calendars and looked at their start times and end times,” Hall said, adding that up to 40 minutes of recess daily and lunch are included in the 1,080 hours.
Hall said her office, in consultation with principals, chose to begin the school year around the same time, Aug. 14 but added a two-day fall break, following a day off for parent-teacher conferences. Students will be off Oct. 17-21. Hall said the fall break was recommended based on feedback from elementary school principals and teachers who felt a break was needed between Labor Day and Thanksgiving.
Schools will also be closed for Easter Monday, April 21 in addition to Good Friday.
While public schools are eliminating virtual days, known as Alternative Methods of Instruction, Hall said AMI days are still available to Catholic schools for “emergencies,” including snow, ice and loss of electricity or water.
